How to Install TWRP Recovery via Fastboot on Android

Bootloader / Fastboot mode allows you to flash any partition on a device, be it system, boot, recovery, cache or any other. And not just the partition images from OEMs, you can also flash the custom-built .img files via fastboot. For example, a custom recovery like TWRP.

For the unknown, TWRP recovery is a custom recovery for Android devices developed and maintained by the folks at TeamWin. It lets you do a host of things on your Android phone that neither Google nor your device manufacturer built support for. For example, a full device (nandroid) backup. Using TWRP recovery you can take a full backup of your Android phone, which you can restore to even repair a soft-bricked device.

Other than a backup, TWRP also allows flashing unsigned zip files which include rooting scripts, custom ROMs / MODs and other similar stuff.

Since not all Android devices are same, TWRP is built differently for each. Also, you might find the recovery available as both official and unofficial builds, on the internet. This is because TWRP recovery is an open source project and anyone with knowledge can compile a TWRP recovery build for any Android device.

You can find and download the official TWRP recovery build for your device over at TeamWin’s website. We’ve linked all officially supported devices below in the table. For most devices, you will only find the Fastboot flashable .img files of TWRP. However, if you have a Samsung Galaxy device, you’ll also find a .tar file, and we recommend using the .tar file to install TWRP using Odin (a PC software to install/flash stuff on Samsung devices).

If you already have TWRP recovery .img file for your device, skip straight to the TWRP installation instructions below the TWRP download section.

[icon name=”hand-o-right” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Download TWRP Recovery

If you couldn’t find TWRP recovery image for your device on the official channels, do a search on our website for an unofficial build. We cover unofficial TWRP recovery builds for all sorts of Android devices that appear on various Android communities like XDA.

When you have the TWRP recovery .img file downloaded for your device, follow the instructions below to flash TWRP recovery via Fastboot.

How to Install TWRP via Fastboot

Note: This guide assumes that your device has an unlocked bootloader. If not, follow our detailed guide on How to Unlock Bootloader via Fastboot on Android.

1. Get a TWRP recovery .img file compatible with your device and save to a separate folder on your PC.
2. Setup ADB and Fastboot on your PC, follow this link [icon name=”external-link” class=”” unprefixed_class=””].
3. Enable USB debugging on your device:
   1. Open Settings on your device.
   2. Go to About phone and tap seven times on Build number, this will enable Developer options.
   3. Now go back to Settings and you’ll see Developer options there, open it.
   4. Tick the USB Debugging checkbox.
4. Open the folder where you saved TWRP Recovery .img file in Step 1 above.
5. Now open a command window inside that folder. To do that, “Shift + Right click” on any empty white space inside the folder and then select “Open command window here” from the context menu.
   
6. Connect your device to the PC. And type the following into the command window we opened in Step 5 above to boot your device into bootloader/fastboot mode:

   adb reboot bootloader

   └ If you get a permission dialogue on your device to “Allow USB debugging”, tap OK.

7. Once your device boots into bootloader mode, issue the following command into command window to flash the TWRP recovery .img file:

   fastboot flash recovery twrp.img

   └ Here modify twrp.img with the name of your TWRP recovery .img file, OR change your TWRP recovery filename to twrp.img and use the command above.

8. Once TWRP is successfully flashed on your device, issue the following command to reboot:

   fastboot reboot

That’s all. TWRP recovery should be installed on your device now. To boot into the freshly installed recovery, simply issue the adb reboot recovery command from PC command line when your device boots into the system.

Happy Androiding!